Post Renovation Cleaning Checklist for Singapore Homes

By Scrubbys SG · Updated 18 July 2026

Your renovation is finally done. The carpentry is in, the paint is dry, and the contractor has done their general wash. So why does every surface still feel gritty a week later?

Because renovation dust does not behave like normal household dust. Hacking, sanding, and drilling produce fine particles that settle into every drawer, hinge, window track, and pore of your flooring, and they keep resurfacing for weeks if they are not removed properly. A contractor's general wash clears the visible mess. The fine layer underneath is a separate job, and it is the one that matters if you are about to move in your furniture, your family, or a newborn.

Here is the checklist we work through on every post renovation job, room by room. Use it yourself, or use it to check whatever cleaning company you hire.

Living Room, Dining & Bedrooms

• Ceiling fans and aircon exteriors, dust collects heavily on top of blades
• Power switches, light switches, doors, and door frames
• Interior and exterior of all carpentry: drawers, shelves, hangers, and surfaces
• Window tracks, sills, frames, and interior glass panes
• Balcony and store room surfaces and floors
• All floors, ideally deep scrubbed rather than just mopped

The carpentry interiors are the most commonly missed spot. New built in wardrobes and cabinets collect a fine film of dust during installation, and if you load your clothes in before wiping them down, that dust transfers straight onto fabric.

Bathrooms

• Wall tiles, glass panels, and counters
• Toilet bowls, bathtubs, shower fittings, mirrors, basins, and taps
• Window tracks, sills, and frames
• Floors, paying attention to corners where cement dust settles

If your tiles have a hazy white film that will not wipe off, that is likely cement haze from the renovation. Normal cleaning will not shift it, it needs a Chemical Wash, which is a specialised treatment. Done wrong, chemical washing can cause etching or discolouration, so this one is genuinely not worth attempting with a supermarket product.

Kitchen

• Wall tiles, counters, and splashbacks
• Interior and exterior of all kitchen carpentry
• Sinks, taps, hoods, hobs, and stoves
• Exterior of appliances: fridge, oven, microwave, washer

The kitchen is where renovation dust meets grease later, so getting it properly clean before you start cooking makes every future clean easier.

The Two Things a Wipe Down Cannot Fix

1. Dust inside the pores of your flooring

Mopping pushes fine dust around more than it removes it. A proper floor deep scrub, we use the Rotowash Floor Scrub machine, works cleaning solution into the floor and extracts it in the same pass, lifting microscopic dust out of the pores of vinyl, tiles, parquet, and marble. Your floors will not look different, but they will feel different, especially underfoot for crawling babies and pets.

2. The renovation smell

That new renovation smell is formaldehyde and VOCs releasing from fresh carpentry, paint, and laminates, and it can affect indoor air quality for months. If anyone in the household is young, elderly, or sensitive, consider a Formaldehyde Treatment once renovation and cleaning are fully completed. Ours includes air quality readings before and after, so you see the actual numbers improve.

When Should You Clean?

The right order is: renovation fully completed, contractor's general wash done, then the detailed post renovation clean, then any floor scrub or formaldehyde treatment, and only then move your furniture in. An empty unit lets cleaners reach every corner, and slots book out fast around handover periods, so plan at least 1 week ahead.